Chat

Sahana Eden's Users & Developers use Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to communicate to each other in real-time.

• #sahana-eden Main Sahana Eden Channel ​Connect Now via freenode web client.

Although the web-based interface works well, it also possible to use other clients by configuring them to connect to #Sahana-Eden on the Freenode network.

Suggested IRC clients:

• ​Freenode web client
• ​ChatZilla plugin for Firefox
• ​XChat (commercial)

Note:

• It is useful to simply 'Ask' a question directly, giving enough context to the issue to permit people to answer, (there is no need to 'Ask to Ask'). Chat is a medium where people 'idle' in the channel a lot of the time as they are busy with other tasks, so give them a few minutes to respond when they notice the question on the channel.
• As-always, it helps to ask questions in the ​smart way
  • ​How to get support from open source
• If you are trying to catch the attention of someone in-specific then prefix your question with their nick. e.g.:

  you: I have a problem with x. I have tried y & z, but all I can see is ...
  you: flavour ^
  flavour: Hi you, I think what you need is ...
  

• If you need help & none is forthcoming, then suggest sending a mail to the relevant Mailing List (although it may be worth hanging around in IRC for people to follow-up with you)

Logs

• #Sahana : ​http://logs.qgis.org/sahana
• #Sahana-Eden: ​http://logs.sahanafoundation.org/sahana-eden
• #Sahana-Meeting : ​http://logs.sahanafoundation.org/sahana-meeting/

Etiquette

• Don't ask to ask, just ask.
• The ideal way to ask the community for help would be to send a detailed email to the mailing list and then refer to that email whilst on IRC.
• During chat, try to be as precise and as short as possible. Brevity is the key. You can put down the minor details in an email.
• Often, people might not reply immediately to your query on IRC. It could be because they're busy, they're looking for an answer to your question, or that they simply don't know. Be patient. Also, do not post the question repeatedly within a short time span whilst on chat.
• If you want to draw the attention of a particular user(s), just prepend your question with their IRC handle.
• Look up chat logs, the mailing list and wiki prior to asking questions. It's quite possible that your question has been asked and answered already. Google is your friend.
• Avoid private communication on IRC and email. It is better to send you messages to the public IRC channel and Mailing list. This way more than one person will be able to answer your questions and the answers could be useful for more than one person.
• Do not paste code in chat. Use a pastebin and put in the link to post in the channel. Short snippets of code are better, with comments in case you need help with coding. Snippets of code in email are also good, but again, brevity is the key. It may not be incovenient to go over lines and lines of code in email.
• Don't post emails to multiple mailing lists. Most community members are subscribed to multiple lists and getting the same email many times isn't helpful for them.
• Please respect the time of all members of the community. What is urgent for you may not be a priority for anyone else.

You could also read:

• Asking Smart Questions (​http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html)
• How to get Support from Open Source (​http://opensourcestrategies.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-get-support-from-open-source.html)